I Spy: New Alpha Protocol Trailer

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We’re not in Aurora any more. Obsidian’s next game, Alpha Protocol, is the least RPG-looking RPG I think I’ve seen. In the new video released today (below), showing lots of new in-game footage, it looks like third-person action. But do not let loose your cries of foul just yet – this is Obsidian, and while it would be nice if they’d remember to finish their games, they’ve yet to make a mistake. And this is Chris Avellone and Feargus Urquhart, who brought us KotOR II and Planescape: Torment. The men know how to tell a story. There is pedigree, and with pedigree comes optimism. Doubly so, since there’s not a potion or magical goblet in sight: this is a spy-based RPG, set in the modern day.

The combat indicates it could even be real-time shooting, but of course it won’t be so simple. There’s something called “chain shot”, which lets you enter a slo-mo mode, setting up your attacks, sounding similar to Fallout 3’s VATS system. And more importantly, this won’t be a game of running around and shooting at men. Unless, I guess, you choose to play it that way. The hints given so far suggest a Deus Exian approach to encounters, with each mission completable in numerous ways, partly based on taste, and partly based on how you’ve levelled and tailored your character. There’s also apparently going to be sizeable downtime, between missions. You can head back to your pad, chat with friends via your computer, watch the news to catch up on your exploits. Oh, and there’s going to be some chatting.

Being an Avellone/Urquhart game, dialogue is going to play an enormous role. Conversations will allow you to chose your response, and thus your personality, using the Dialogue Stance System. It seems that in Alpha Protocol you won’t be given the usual luxury of weighing up your choices for too long – there’s a timer forcing you to pick quickly, in the pace of natural conversation. There’s a few more details in the dev commentary video we showed you last November.

However, none of this is shown below, which focuses purely on action. The trailer claims it is the first modern-day spy RPG. There has to be an obscure Polish game that beat it in 2002 or something – first person to think of one wins an imaginary prize. Do enjoy.

Isn’t The Agency supposed to be modern day. Not that its been released yet (Besides, I’ve heard that its dice rolling not proper shooting, so I shan’t be bothering with that one). Reserving my judgement on this until more info leaks into the Internets.

Heh, being able to heal your character up from the inventory screen is far more balance breaking than VATS.

I thought about Gorky’s Zygotic Zero. I reviewed that for PC Format back in the day. And Aurora Watching, the sequel, for Gamer. Neither were RPGs, however. The were stealth action. Where neither the stealth, nor the action, worked. But they were Polish. I feel the need to reproduce the game features for GZ, as listed on the box:

However, the prize for best box boast still goes to one of my favourite games ever, Legacy: Dark Shadows. It not only quotes positive review lines from Just Adventure forum posts, but in the features list, below “Non-linear dialogues”, lies:

As snarky as folks might be about Obsidian not finishing their games, they get a free pass for KOTOR 2 at the very least. Midway through development, the publisher ended up cutting their deadline by six months, leaving them with a half-finished game with only time to develop a quarter of one.

It’s why there’s huge amounts of amputated content still lurking around in the data files. Whole planets, even! They spent most of their now-truncated development time trying to seal things off and make it actually playable, rather than the whole ‘finishing it’ they had budgeted for.

So long as they’re not forced into rushing Alpha Protocol, it could be very good.

Obsidian strike me as a developer that will eventually make a truly great game; I really enjoyed NWN 2 and the first expansion, and KotOR 2 would have been more than just good too if it hadn’t been unfortunately curtailed. Here’s hoping that this is their great game.

Contrary to what Garg says above, I have a fear that this is going to be another Vampire: Bloodlines. That is to say, fantastic action rpg with an excellent story and fantastic characters, hidden behind broken game mechanics, dated techniques (take a look at the animation and ragdolls in AP, looks almost hitman 1) leaving an unfinished game that will take the developer down with it, eventually the fans will pick up the slack and joy will be had.

I hope to god that doesn’t happen, Obsidian are my Favourite Development House in the World™ but I just can’t shake the feeling. If they don’t push the ‘Modern day Mass Effect’ PR steamroller they might just disappear.

Also, I want them to make more D&D stuff. Maybe even resurrect the Planescape setting. Eberron is for losers.

Obsidan: One of the last bastions of intelligent games. Strong characters, complex storylines, keep-your-damn-steroids-thank-you-all-the-same. I’m surprised no one mentioned that, really.

Some of their work has been stimulating, and even moving (in the case of Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer), and I personally find it easier to tolerate an average game with a better World filled with vibrant characters rather than a fantastic game filled centered around a plot written by someone on a napkin and acted out by drama school rejects (most of the mainstream these days, sadly).

But that’s just my take on it. You go, Obsidian. I just hope this isn’t the last game due to, y’know, the buying trends of the masses.

I sort of feel the same about this as I did about that Bioware Sonic game – studio I love doing game that has very little appeal for me. Is it true that their Alien rpg is canned? I was much more interested in that than in generic action spy rpg…

But I can see myself liking this, I don’t mind the generic look, there’s only so much you can do with “real world” style stuff. As long as the story is actually good and they do have a lot of choices to make that affect the course of the plot, since that’s the only RPG aspect they keep hyping it better be good.

This really didn’t catch my interest at first, but then thinking of the writing in KotOR2 and given the setting, this has the potential for some pretty interesting and, if you choose it, controversial story telling.

I couldn’t care less about combat or graphics in a story driven RPG, so it’s a bit disappointing that the trailer doesn’t show anything else. And indeed, groans aplenty at the Oblivion lock picking and the music. Give us juicy RPG goodness instead :)